Sunday, February 14, 2010

Its all your fault!

I found myself in Madison last night at the Kohl Center watching the men's Badger hockey team kick the living tar out of Minnesota State. It had been a couple years since I have gone out to the capital to see a game. With season ticket holder friend I would hope it would be more often but I am grateful to snag a ticket when offered.

Their seats are in a good spot. Front row of the top section. You can see everything on the ice except for when the puck is dumped in the close board. Then you miss a foot or two of coverage but that is made up for a great view of the ice when long passes occur. They also have a bird's eye view of the student section which is advantageous when looking for young co-eds.

It is the student section that makes college hockey more entertaining than the pros IMO. I have to assume that most big programs have student sections and to an extent they are all the same. The raucous, sometime derogatory cheers. The routines they go through for each song the band plays. The only difference would be what they are saying. Each school has their own signature cheers and comments. Some are made up on the fly while others expected.

The Wisconsin student section is a living organism (ha! I typed out orgasm before going back to add the n&i) in itself. Students have to work their way down to the lower bowl by the band. They start with tickets in the second and third bowl, honing their craft as freshmen and sophomore before they get called up to the big leagues. You can pick out the newbies in those sections as their timing is off.

I noticed that the student section is evolving as well. The timeless chant of SIEVE!!! at the goalie after the Badgers score has been altered to add in IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!! Other chants have grown as well. Now you don't know what will be said. Those kids are pretty damn innovative. About the only chant I didn't hear last night was at the end of the game. There was no NOW WE DRINK!!! as they filed out.

It was a good game. Badgers won 8-4. By scoring at least 5 goals the crowd gets free ice cream at Culvers. Unfortunately it is for stores in Madison only. Sigh.

We stopped at the Great Dane Brew Pub for dinner first. Their Stone Scone Scotch Ale was good as was the Extra Pale out of the cask. The Black Earth Porter was ok. It didn't really stand out. I did finally get to try some Lake Louie beer at another bar Had their American Pale at the Echo Tap. It was pretty good. I was happy to finally try this small Wisconsin brewery and look forward to trying some of their other styles.